And even if the measure passes, trains wouldn't run past the site until years after the first buildings open, and the location of the proposed line and station could change.

"We're building our development plans around the concept of a transit node," said Greg Johnson, president of developer Wright Runstad & Co., which along with Shorenstein Properties LLC plans more than 3 million square feet of office space, about 100,000 square feet of retail space and 800 to 1,000 homes on the Bel-Red site.

"But obviously we won't be building it around a light rail station, because we'll be long gone before the light rail comes through," he said Tuesday. The company aims to finish the project's first phase in 2010.

Light rail is a big draw for developers such as Johnson. But they also say it only makes sense at this point to work on projects that are viable with or without the light rail extensions in Proposition 1, and that would be the case even if voters approve the measure.

Transit as a draw

Developers expect people will want to live, work and shop around transit stops, and that cities will rezone for denser development in those areas, said Sean Hyatt, managing director of the Bellevue office of national apartment developer Trammell Crow Residential.

"We definitely are kind of tracking the property markets around the proposed hubs," he said. "I will admit that I know about where those stations are going to be located and I've driven around all those little areas."

Matthew Gardner, a local land-use economist who works with developers, said building around light rail could serve the sizable market for homes in urban areas, allow people to get to work without dealing with traffic and provide more affordable housing than what's currently available in job centers such as downtown Seattle.

"These are the areas that I think are going to be the next big players," he said.

Light rail is a factor in building in places such as Columbia City, which is along a line Sound Transit plans to start operating in 2009.

"Obviously, having the station half a mile away is a nice amenity for people in the neighborhood and, particularly, our project," said Scott Shapiro, managing director of Eagle Rock Ventures LLC, which has proposed a 63-condo development called Columbia City Place on a vacant former auto lot at 5201 Rainier Ave. S.

"If anything, it's speeding up the development in Columbia City and other neighborhoods like that."

In addition to Eagle Rock, HAL Real Estate Investments of Seattle also plans to build more than 200 condos plus retail space in Columbia Plaza, at Rainier and South Edmunds Street.

And Seattle developer Harbor Properties proposed about 300 apartments or condos and 15,000 square feet of commercial space on the current site of Saint-Gobain, a plastics manufacturer, and near Eagle Rock's project.

By creating a short, predictable commute into downtown, the trains will allow neighborhoods such as Columbia City to compete with closer-in areas, HAL Real Estate President Dana Behar said. "I think it's going to change the geography of the city."

Light rail might make an even bigger difference in less-established areas.

"It gives people the opportunity to avoid the tough traffic," he said.

But when?

People have started buying some properties near proposed station sites for the next round of light rail, particularly on the Eastside, Hyatt said.

But the first real surge in activity would come only after voter approval and could be restrained even then because of the transportation project's long timeline, he said. "I'm not necessarily in a position today to buy land I'm going to sit on for seven to 10 years while some massive public works project validates my assumption."

It just costs too much to buy land and hold it for a decade, until light rail comes along, Shapiro said. "Most people have to see that it's really happening. When the construction starts, then everyone takes it more seriously."

Once a light-rail route and station sites are finalized, Johnson said, property values would "really take off."

"In advance of the system getting set, though, I think people take measured steps," he said.

Trammell Crow Residential would have pursued a project in Redmond, at what would be the end of the Eastside light rail extension in Proposition 1, even without the possibility of light rail, Hyatt said. Construction is about to begin.

Similarly, Wright Runstad's decision to buy the Bel-Red site was based on such factors as the site's proximity to Interstate 405 and state Route 520; light rail was secondary, Johnson said.

"Bel-Red's the obvious place for the next wave of office and residential development," he said. "When you add in the dynamic of a transit node, that's kind of the icing on the cake."

Similarly, Capitol Hill certainly would be a popular place to build with or without the streetcar line that is part of Proposition 1.

But the streetcar did play a role in HAL Real Estate's decision to build the Braeburn and Cameo condo buildings in the Capitol Hill area, Behar said. "That was a factor even for the buyers who bought at Braeburn -- knowing that there would be a light rail station several blocks away."

And, he said, the expectation of light rail can start to bring gentrification years before the first trains roll by.